Mobile International Speedway could become regular stop on ARCA schedule (photos)

MOBILE, Alabama -- The ARCA Racing Series is returning to Mobile International Speedway for the 2013 season -- and maybe beyond, if the circuit's second race at the Rick Crawford Performance Track goes as well as the first.

The second ARCA Mobile 200 will take place at the high-banked, half-mile Irvington oval on March 9, Crawford and ARCA Series President Ron Drager announced on Monday in Mobile.

Drager said the enthusiastic capacity crowd at the inaugural race in March caught ARCA's attention.

"If we do as well or better as we did last spring this coming March 9," Drager said, "I think at that point, then it just makes a lot of sense to make it an annual event.

"For us to have a race down here at the Gulf in early spring at a historic old racetrack that's very racey -- it fits nicely into what we do. It adds a lot of personality and character to the tour."

The Mobile 200 again will fill the second slot on the ARCA schedule, coming after the opening race at Daytona International Speedway. Drager said the Mobile race fits ARCA's plans in several ways.

"The climate here in the early spring allows us to race, where at a lot of tracks where we race in the Midwest it would be impossible to race that early in the season," Drager said. "For us, it's a really nice way to run an event after Daytona but before most of the tracks open up in the Midwest.

"The support for the event through the (Mobile) Convention and Visitors Bureau and the (Mobile) Sports Authority generating interest in the race, helping Tommy (Praytor) and Rick make sure everybody knew about the race, had a lot to do with why so many people were there. ...

"The teams all enjoyed the track. The track lends itself well to our type of racecar, so that was good.

"I think all those factors come together and we said, 'Wow, this should be an event we should try to do again.' Our goal with this event would be to get enough traction with it to where we would just roll it forward and do it annually."

ARCA's first Mobile race proved to be an action-packed affair. The 11 cautions at MIS remain the high for the 2012 ARCA season 17 races into the campaign. It culminated in a green-white-checkered finish won by NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular Cale Gale, a Mobile native and a former champion at the track.

"I've had more positive comments about that race than probably anything we've ever done at the speedway," Crawford said. "The fans standing on their feet, the cheers, the action on the track, the winner of the race -- I couldn't have written a better storybook ending to commemorate a great event for Mobile International Speedway.

"When you start getting calls and text messages and emails and things like that from fans who were there and friends and mechanics, racing people going, 'That just wasn't another race. That was an event.' That made it all worthwhile to be able to do something like that."

Gale's Mobile victory was his second on the ARCA circuit. He attended Monday's announcement along with two other drivers who raced in MIS' inaugural event -- Fairhope's Grant Enfinger and Mobile's Thomas "Moose" Praytor.

"I think it's great that they're able to put it back together," Gale said. "I think it was really good for the city to have a race like that down here. Obviously, the grandstands showed that."

The official attendance for the race was 9,687, but Crawford estimated that perhaps 14,000 people were on the grounds.

Starting Oct. 1, those who had reserved tickets, reserved infield parking or camping spots for the first race will be given the option to renew those tickets for next year's event. General ticket sale will begin on Dec. 1.

Crawford said he was working on a surprise for the 2013 racing weekend.

"Let me get it down on paper and get it signed," he said. "I think it'll be a neat surprise, and it'll be a surprise that maybe nobody was expecting."